Apple multitouch patent tentatively declared invalid by USPTO

Apple multitouch patent tentatively declared invalid by USPTO

Most of us are already familiar with Apple‘s ’949 multi-touch patent, more famously know as “The Steve Jobs patent.” It has been used against a number of companies in patent
suits, but unfortunately for Apple, the United States Patent and
Trademark Office declared today that all 20 claims of it are invalid. FOSS Patents reports that the USPTO did so with a first Office action, which is considered to be something of a preliminary action.
This means that Apple’s patent may be safe in the long run, but at
the moment, it isn’t looking all that great. Indeed, Florian Mueller
writes that a number of “patent claims that are rejected at this stage
do ultimately survive,” as there is potential to get this decision
reversed. You can bet that Apple will fight tooth and nail to do just
that, potentially taking the matter as far as the Supreme Court if it
has to.
If this tentative decision ends up sticking, though, then we can
expect a lot of the companies Apple hit with patent claims to appeal.
One of the most notable companies is Samsung,
which was found to be infringing on that patent in the high-profile
trial that was raging a couple months back. Samsung was found to be
infringing on a handful of other patents, of course, but if this means
that Samsung can render some of the ruling invalid based on the USPTO’s
decision, it will certainly try.
Of course, with Apple going after a number of other companies using
that patent, we can expect even more appeals past just Samsung if this
sticks. At the moment, it seems to early to tell if Apple’s patent will
be invalid at the end of everything, so we’ll just have to wait an see.
Stay tuned, because regardless of where things end up, this is
definitely about to get interesting.